Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently expressed a keen belief that the global cryptocurrency market capitalisation will double in size before the end of the year.
Garlinghouse shared his hypothesis in an interview with CNBC, predicting a massive price upswing in the coming months. In his submission, the market cap could rise as high as $5 trillion in Q4, with Bitcoin (BTC) pulling a chunk of the weight.
The Ripple CEO expressed his “keen optimism” on several macroeconomic trends in the cryptoverse as key factors for a massive bull run. Garlinghouse points to the US SEC’s approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) and the frenetic levels of activity stemming from the decision.
In the weeks following the SEC’s approval, Bitcoin snagged a new all-time high as hordes of retail and institutional investors flocked to the newly minted ETFs. For Garlinghouse, the approval opened the floodgates for “real” institutional investors to dip their feet in the asset class, sparking an inflow of billions of dollars into the ecosystem amid an expected $33 billion XRP inflow.
Apart from the ETFs, Garlinghouse bases the rest of his prediction on Bitcoin’s incoming halving event scheduled for April. Occurring once every four years, the halving event has historically triggered a massive price rally for BTC, leading to several all-time highs over the years.
“I’ve been around this industry for a long time, and I’ve seen these trends come and go,” said Garlinghouse. “You’re seeing that drives demand, and at the same time, demand is increasing, supply is decreasing. That doesn’t take an economics major to tell you what happens when supply contracts and demand expands.”
Presently, the cryptocurrency market capitalization hovers around the $2.3-2.5 trillion mark, with Bitcoin contributing $1.3 trillion to the pool. Altcoins, spearheaded by a memecoin craze, are contributing to the market capitalization, with stablecoins making up their fair share.
“I’m very optimistic. I think the macro trends, the big-picture things like the ETFs, they’re driving for the first time real institutional money,” added Garlinghouse.
The tailwind of regulatory clarity
While ETFs and the incoming halving event are set to trigger an aggressive bull market for the ecosystem, Garlinghouse points to a wave of positive regulations in the US as potential upsides.
Garlinghouse believes the election season could usher in a new regime in the US—one sympathetic to the virtual currency industry’s cause. With the SEC hounding several service providers, enthusiasts are optimistic that the “witch hunt” will lead to greater industry collaboration.
“I think we will get more clarity in the United States,” said Garlinghouse. “The US is still the largest economy in the world, and it’s unfortunately been one of the more hostile crypto markets. And I think that’s going to start to change.”
